in action

Chaos Ensues

Q: What do you get when you take 8 kids, throw in a bunch of pumpkins, finger paints, and a kiddie pool?

A: This -

I definitely questioned my sanity at certain points throughout the day for suggesting this for our Tuesday playgroup.  But it ended up being a lot of fun - and G took about a 3.5hr nap after it, which is always a good thing!

Oh, btw - I'm pretty sure Gwen didn't get a speck of paint on her the entire time.  She's pretty horrified at the thought of getting dirty.  Justin, anyone?

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We went to a farm festival for my bday yesterday, where they had live music and all kind of yummy treats.  The singer was a bit [ok, extremely] odd.  Picture out of breath, awkward, and forgetting the words.  But Gwen seemed to enjoy her.    

Notice Gwen's tank top.  Even though it was a warm fall day, a tank top is not appropriate seasonal dress.  But that's what happens when Gwen throws up on herself in the car, and mommy forgets to change out the "emergency outfit" in her diaper bag from summer to fall.  It's Gwen's new thing apparently - making herself so upset that she gags and throws up (car rides are not our bag lately). Fun!

I also posted a bunch of pics of Gwen enjoying her corn on the cob.  She loves it, and there's nothing more adorable than an aggressive-corn-on-the-cob-eating toddler.

checking out this chick's ink

Nana and Papa were happy to take Gwen that evening so Justin and I could go out to dinner for my birthday.  We had a great time, and ended the night with some Carvel ice cream cake - my favorite!!

Long Island Visit

Annie Annie came went home to LI for a wedding, so Gwen and I drove down for a long weekend visit.  We had such a great time with friends and family.


Our friend, Laura came over to visit with her 2 year old, Andrew.  Gwen was pretty excited about it, as you can see!

I decided to crash the wedding ceremony so I could go wine tasting out on the North Fork with Anne and Megan before the reception!

Someone was obsessed with riding the chick this weekend...

we love our Annie Annie

We also saw visited with Jess and Andrea over the weekend, but I'm bummed I didn't take any pics of the lovely dinner Jess made for us, or of Andrea's adorable little baby bump!!  It was so much fun catching up :)

that's all for now!

Little Ballerina!

Someone started her dance class today!!  I've heard that most places don't offer classes for kids younger than 3, but our friend told me about a 1.5-3 yr old class so we were all about it!  Afterall, the little lady has been a dancing babe for pretty much her entire life.  One of the best things about class?  There's a dress code: dance leotard, tights, and ballet slippers!  So of course we went on a shopping trip last week!
So when we got to the studio, we found out that Gwen and Cece were the only 2 little ladies signed up for the class.  That was a little disappointing, because it would've been adorable to see a bunch of little ballerinas running around.  But I was pleasantly surprised by the content - the instructor (Miss Krystn) really seems to know what she's doing.  I honestly didn't know what to expect, but she had a good structure to the class, and kept things moving along. I kind of didn't want it to end!
First, she had the girls play with some toys to get them comfortable with the unfamiliar space (I think it helped that they know each other so well, too).  Then we did some songs and movements in a circle, followed by some fun stretches - Gwen really enjoyed mimicking Miss K.  After that we did some plie's and another ballet move (that I can't remember the name of) against the ballet bar.  Then came some spacial awareness, climbing up and over a little obstacle.  Miss K had Jade and me step away after that, while she played with some toys with the girls, so we could work on their separation anxiety (which they ended up having none of because they were together).  She ended the class with a cute song and bubbles.  I posted a video at the end of the post, of Gwen and Cece dancing around to the song.  I have to say that Gwen really enjoyed herself!  she kept asking "more? more?" after each activity was over.  We're looking forward to next week!  The pics that I have aren't great because we were doing the class with them most of the time, but here's what I was able to get:

getting their stickers for being such good little dancers

Here she is in action!